Amateur Science - Freeman Dyson on NYRB

A new issue in the podcast of the New York Review of Books was a charming interview with Freeman Dyson about amateur science, among others. Dyson explains why he thinks amateur scientists have good science to contribute in addition to the professional scientists.

Amateurs work with a different set of conditions than professionals. Dyson's example is astronomy, where the professionals have the better hardware, but very little time to spend there. Amateurs have plenty of time and with modern affordable technology have the chance to make reasonably accurate measurements. With their advantage of time, they can actually make measurements the professional do not come round making.

Once one has taken in this example, the principle of modern technology at low price combined with the internet, gives the idea that in any field of study a determined amateur can make good contributions. Taken that into account, I think again of the plea by Professor James Boyle for enclosing the commons of the mind. Currently much of scientific literature is actually not accessible on-line and he wants to change that. Arguing it is common property and it is for the good of all to have this body available.

More NYRB podcast:
Roger Cohen in Tehran,
Ronald Dworkin.

About the issue of copyrights:
James Boyle on RSA, and on Thinking Allowed,
Helprin on Copyright.

The Tulip mania - Yuval Malchi's קטעים בהיסטוריה

In the seventeenth century the Dutch experienced the first recorded economic bubble. Tulip bulb prices rose to excessive heights until it collapsed rapidly. The hebrew podcast קטעים בהיסטוריה (pieces of history) retells this well-known story in a charming 20 minute issue.

Host Yuval Malchi explains how this could work. The tulip had only recently been introduced in Holland and the ownership had become a matter of prestige. This caused the price of the bulbs to be rather high. In addition, with the advent of speculative trading, the free market allowed for trading in future bulbs and this allowed to heavy speculation.

It goes to show how the free market can drive itself and it has been shown many times ever since. Once the prices began rising, speculating even more on the bulbs became the right thing to do and consequently prices continually went up and up. Just as with any consecutive bubble, it was a matter of time to burst, let the market collapse and drag many investor to bankruptcy.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons: "Flora's Mallewagen" by Hendrik Gerritsz. Pot - 1640

More קטעים בהיסטוריה (Pieces of History):
American Independence,
Lewis and Clark.

The story and God - Speaking of Faith

There was a rerun of the show The novelist as God, on Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett's conversation with Mary Doria Russell writer of various SciFi novels that trigger issues of philosophy and theology. It was not an angle or a title that immediately drew me in, but a reader of this blog recommended this specific episode (in the previous run) and so I set out to listen. Here is the review again.

As predicted by my reader, Russell is dealing with the issues of the existence of God, the nature of God and the reconciliation of God's existence with human suffering in a humorous and light-hearted fashion. She is in fact so expressive and lively in this respect, she leaves her interviewer Tippett trailing behind. I am inclined to say Tippett and her staff didn't even get the message, when they chose the title, as neither God is treated as a novelist, nor the Novelist treated as a god. God is taken as the highest, widest and most omnipresent character in our narratives. Russell points out how such a figure as part of a narration, seen from the standpoint of a novelist, that is, one who is interested in the quality of the narrative, sheds light on certain theological issues.

And then, since we are dabbling in the dynamic, flexible and discretionary field of narration, you can take that idea of god in many more directions and not bother too much about consistencies. That is how Russell takes it lightly, because it is not about how it is, but about how you tell the tale. And even if it were a mere tale, it would be great, she reveals. And this has led her from Christianity, to atheism to Judaism, which I found a better story than much of what was quoted from her novels.

More Speaking of Faith:
Fragility and Humanity,
The Sunni-Shia divide and the future of Islam,
Wangari Maathai,
Rumi,
The Buddha in the world.

Science Talk - Scientific American Podcast

Recently I have listened to two issues of a podcast from the Scientific American. Inside the Scientific American the name of the podcast is Science Talk, but the podcast is labelled Scientific American Podcast in your feedcatcher (feed).

Science Talk is presented by Steve Mirsky and is issued once a week. The episodes talk around 25 minutes, varying from 14 up to 31 minutes. They are easily accessible and address one subject each. The two issues I listened two were about colony collapse disorder and disappearance of bees (bee afraid, bee very afraid) and about basic and effective measures for improving health (Atul Gawande Redux). About bees speaks May Berenbaum entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is the recording of a lecture in front of children. About health Mirsky interviews Atul Gawande, a surgeon who wrote a book about the subject.

May Berenbaum was not prepared to speak in front of children. On the fly she adapts her talk to their level, maintaining the content and its conclusion. Consequently the problems with bees are made crystal clear. This podcast episode is widely acclaimed on account if this, but it comes at a price. One senses the stress Berenbaum experiences during the talk and it causes her to speak with pressure. In addition, there is a lot of noise from the kids in the background. Therefore, the content quality comes with a lessened audio experience.

In comparison, the studio talk with Atul Gawande is of clean sound. I enjoyed this podcast very much, since it shows a frontier for improving the health situation in an unexpected fashion. Usually I would think of improved technology, but Gawande shows ground can be gained with simple measures and outdated technology.

Substance abuse in the midwest - NBIH

The latest issue of New Books In History would have served in a history show just as well as in one on criminology. I used to study criminology and my professor, the now 85 year old Herman Bianchi, would point out to us that the field of History was as important for criminology as was Sociology or Law. It is shown in Marshal Poe's interview with Nick Reding.

The history is of a small rural town in Iowa, but it could be about an remote place in the decaying midwest. Together with the rising economic despair came an increase in the use of drugs, the sample drug discussed by Reding: crystal meth. It is the history of meth, the economic history of the midwest and how the two came to meet never to part. It is the history of how a town such as the one in Iowa, was firmly gripped by the use and the local household manufacture of crystal meth.

It is criminology in the type of social questions that are raised and get answers, if tentatively. Why did this population turn to drugs? Why exactly this drug? How does law enforcement fail and why? How did authorities react and managed to reduce the use and manufacture to a certain extent? What were the medical and social care facilities available? If there was some success in bringing the problem back, will it lessen even more, or is it awaiting a return? While this is about one town in Iowa and it is claimed to be representative for the midwest; is that warranted and if so, could it be extended further - to all dwindling rural areas in the Western World perhaps? I thought it just might.

More NBIH:
How could they continue - NBIH on WW1 soldiers,
After slavery was abolished,
Populism,
Two great shows on New Books In History,
Two old and one New Books In History.

George Best - Oxford Biographies

It is really nice to occasionally pick up a biography from the podcast Oxford Biographies. I should be trying the unfamiliar names as well, but lately I have been mostly attracted to the famous ones. Currently, the latest in the feed is such a well-known name: George Best (mp3).

The tale of George Best is hardly as pleasant as it was to see the footballer on the pitch in his heydays. George Best the footballer was quickly overshadowed by Best the phenomenon, Best the seriously flawed person and Best the race to decay. The frustration for the lover of football is that a great talent was squandered and not all of this is the fault of Best himself. His stardom was so new, nobody knew how to handle it, but nowadays he'd receive more protection and guidance. His Northern Ireland nationality, barred him from serious contention on the World Cup and other international matches, but surely he is not the only one.

The flaws of Best's personality are in the biography merely described. No effort is being made to begin to explain and this is a pity. It demotes the narrative to that of a going down the drain from beginning to end. The addictions to alcohol and gambling kick in early and never stop to ruin his life. It begs for some psychology or socio-economic thinking, but that is left to the listener and the larger biographies. Check out more on the Oxford DNB website.

More Oxford Biographies:
Roald Dahl,
Biography Podcasts,
Oxford Biographies podcast review.